People Before Profit blog

National Clips

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 04:22:00 +0000

ATLANTA, Ga. – Georgians reject Miller, Bush

Thousands were expected to march here Aug. 27, in solidarity with the massive demonstrations in New York City against the Republican National Convention (RNC). In a joint press release the Georgia Coalition for Peace and Justice and the Women’s Action for a New Agenda announced that the march is aimed at the Bush administration’s war policies and charge his economic policies have deepened poverty in the state. Protests will begin in front of the offices of Georgia Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat who will address the RNC.

“Politicians like Zell Miller and George W. Bush, who callously send other people’s children to die in a war for oil and shamelessly support policies that rob children of health care and seniors of retirement security show us we are at a critical moment in our nation’s history,” said Rev. Timothy McDonald III of the Concerned Black Clergy. “It is our responsibility to defend the fundamentals of our democracy against those who are trying to hijack our government to serve the interest of a few.”

MONTPELIER, Vt. – State sues for affordable meds

The movement demanding affordable prescription drugs includes bus trips to Canada, street protests, lobbying and letter-writing campaigns and now the courtroom, as Vermont has become the first state to sue the Food and Drug Administration to force the FDA to provide affordable, life-saving medications for its residents. The state filed in federal court August 9.

Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, said that the state had no other choice but to sue because the FDA rejected their application for a pilot program that would have enabled Vermonters to import medications from Canada by mail.

William H. Sorrell, the state’s attorney general, said, “Vermont’s petition was carefully crafted and reasonable. I am amazed that the FDA rejected it, but I am looking forward to getting this in front of a federal judge.”

Two dozen state legislatures have passed or are considering the Canadian alternative similar to Vermont’s effort. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said that his state would act without federal approval and save $91 million.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Black Americans look to expand representation

On Aug. 24, Alabamans went to the polls for municipal elections in all 450 towns and cities and there are a record number of African-Americans seeking the mayor’s job. Currently 12 percent, or 52, of all Black mayors in the country hold seats in Alabama. Only Mississippi, with 77, has more.

According to the National Conference of Black Mayors, of the 26 states and the District of Columbia where African-Americans sit in a city’s mayor’s office, 14 are below the Mason-Dixon line.

There is one African-American mayor each in the Alaska, Idaho and Iowa. In the industrial states, 21 cities in Illinois and 14 in Michigan have elected Black mayors. With 2,500 municipalities in Pennsylvania, only four have African-American mayors.

Compiled by Paul Kaczocha, Julia Lutsky and Denise Winebrenner Edwards.

Florida hurricane: Workers lend a hand, Bushes play politics

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 03:54:00 +0000

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is hustling across this state seeking to turn the human misery inflicted by Hurricane Charley into votes for his older brother in the Nov. 2 election. It is a task so crucial to George W. Bush that the governor announced he would skip the Republican convention in New York. The hurricane, packing 174-mile-per-hour winds, killed 26 people and left 141,000 homeless as it cut a swath across the state Aug. 13.

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has rushed in, presumably with an open checkbook for well-heeled Gulf Coast enclaves like Captiva Island. But anger boils over when working-class people, sweltering in their wrecked homes without water and electricity, talk about FEMA red tape.

Johnny and Brenda Wilder were removing rubble and downed trees from around their home. He is an air conditioner installer and she works at a dry cleaner’s. They told a harrowing tale of riding out the storm in their modest but well-built house as the rafters shook and the doorjambs groaned. “Yes, I know George Bush was right across the bridge in Punta Gorda telling FEMA he was giving them a blank check to help us out in any way we need,” Brenda said.

“But we haven’t got any help from FEMA. None. The only help we got was from the Red Cross.”

A portable generator was running nearby and they also have a chain saw. But friends lent both to them, she said.

Johnny interjected, “So many people here are devastated. They go to FEMA and wait five hours for help and leave empty-handed. We’ve got a big fat zero from them. Home Depot told us we could get a voucher to get things we need to repair our house but we went to FEMA three times and they said they didn’t know anything about it. I’m just a good ole boy from Kentucky but I know this: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

A few blocks away, Emma Ritchie was picking up a case of bottled water from a Red Cross truck. “The roof’s gone from my home,” she said. “I’m sleeping on the floor and I caught a cold. A roofer says it will cost $9,000 to repair the roof. I went to FEMA and they told me I’d get some help. But I haven’t heard anything from them. I told them I need a grant. I can’t afford $9,000.”

The Red Cross has brought in more than 3,000 volunteers. Kelly Reffett, an AFL-CIO Community Services organizer from Chicago, is serving as an AFL-CIO liaison with the Red Cross in Bradenton. She said scores of union members have poured in to help.

Patsy Smith, a retired Flint, Mich. autoworker, is a member of UAW Local 651. “Disaster is a way of life for working people. Look at Flint. It’s dying,” she said.

“People are not getting the jobs they need. We’re about to lose another plant. There is only one truck plant left. I’m retired and I decided it’s payback time. I want to give something back to people in need.”

Viviana Carloss, a Red Cross volunteer from Sacramento, Calif., said she is responsible for “diverse communities” such as low-income people, people of color, as well as senior citizens and disabled people.

“Yesterday we had a meeting with farm worker organizations. We’re trying to get more services for the migrant farm workers who have not only been displaced but are now unemployed because 80 percent of the citrus crop was destroyed,” she said. “We have entire families living in shelters.”

Larry Gray, a veteran lineman from Jefferson City, Tenn., was one of 76 linemen, all members of Local 760 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in east Tennessee, toiling in the sweltering heat to restore power in Port Charlotte. “Our company is a union company,” he told the World. “Our joint apprenticeship program teaches every worker to do this kind of work. Right now we’re working to restore power to hospitals and other emergency services. Then we’ll shift over to the residential side.”

Florida National Guard units came here soon after returning from Iraq. Some soldiers expressed joy at being assigned to a duty where the people “welcome us rather than shoot at us,” the St. Petersburg Times reported.

James McGill of St. Pete Beach, in an Aug. 21 letter to the Times, commented, “We should all pitch in and do what we can to help the victims of Charley … At the same time we should reflect on what we as a nation have done, or not done, to help millions [in Iraq] who are still trying to recover from Hurricane Shock and Awe.”

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com.

Protests at GOP meet to hit health crisis

Sat, 21 Aug 2004 08:22:00 +0000

The National Council of Churches, along with 100 other organizations, has sent the clarion call to everyone protesting the anti-people policies of the Bush administration and its congressional allies. The familiar health themes will be featured at the protest rallies at the Republican National Convention: People Before Profits, Health Care is a Human Right, No Profits in Health Care, Health Care not Warfare, Stop Privatization in Health Care, Stop Drug Company Greed, Universal Health Care for All, Why is the U.S. the Only Country Without Health Care for All? The National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC) has put forward a program that can encompass everyone who opposes the Bush administration’s payoffs of the drug and insurance companies. The NCHC is a nonpartisan group, but in this case its demands clearly point the finger at President Bush, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist (owner of the largest for-profit hospital chain in the world), and their corporate backers. The NCHC recommendations are all the more important since the arm-twisting that Frist and Bush used to get their Medicare legislation passed has completely backfired. You rarely hear either of them extolling the virtues of their prescription drug plan, a plan that everyone now sees as a payoff to the drug manufacturers. NCHC head Dr. Henry Simmons set the tone for the next stage of this health care campaign: “Small incremental changes are not sufficient. We need reforms that are systemic and we need them now.” James Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist Church General Board, put it straight: “America can make health care accessible to everyone and now is the time for us to make it happen.” Some of the highlights of the NCHC program include simplifying and modernizing the administration of health care; making the financing of health care more equitable; launching a nationwide effort to dramatically improve the quality, safety and value of health care; and bringing the cost of health care in line with other parts of the economy. The group also calls for immediate coverage of everyone within three years of the passage of any national health bill. These are hardly earthshaking proposals. In fact, had they been put forward a few years ago, they would have not caused a ripple. But, the Bush/Frist health care grab for profits has so distorted the delivery and financing of health care that they are now seen as major steps forward — and they would be. So, when you arrive in New York City over the weekend of Aug. 27, bring your own slogans on homemade, union-made and community-made poster boards displaying your anger and demands for health care for all. On Aug. 28 Roger Toussaint, president of the Transit Workers Union Local 100, will address the health care crisis at a media forum Aug. 28 at Elebash Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street at 11 a.m. The forum will be followed by an interactive exhibit titled “The Medicine Show.” On Sunday, Aug. 29, the United For Peace and Justice will be hosting a gathering of hundreds of thousands of people to tell the Republican National Convention and Bush that four years is ENUF and you’re OUT. (Visit www.unitedforpeace.org.) Health care activists will be gathering at the “Health Care Crisis and Election 2004” Conference and Rally of the Uninsured Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at the CUNY Graduate Center Auditorium, 365 5th Avenue, starting at 9:00 a.m. on both days. (No admission fee). The conference is sponsored by the Campaign for a National Health Program (cnhpnow.org), and speakers include Steelworkers Union President Leo Gerard, and Congressman John Conyers, author of HR 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Bill. On Sept. 1, the New York City’s Central Labor Council will host a 4 p.m. rally at the corner of 8th Avenue and 30th Street, going down to 23rd Street. All of these events deserve (and will get) the largest of turnouts. Be sure to bring your health care demands on posters and talk with everyone who is attending and mobilizing for the November elections to oust Bush, Frist and the other Republicans from leadership in Washington, D.C. The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

Patriot Act nixes privacy

Sat, 21 Aug 2004 08:20:00 +0000

HOUSTON — Confidentiality is a concept that is crucial to a number of professional relationships and has been safeguarded by a number of professional organizations for many years. Confidentiality serves to protect a client who discloses personal information to a professional who is attempting to help that individual. It is a key ethical concept and prohibits the professional from releasing such information to a third party without the client’s written approval. It applies to a number of professionals, including health care providers (including hospitals), attorneys, clergy and accountants. According to the American Civil Liberties Union’s web site, Section 215 of the Patriot Act “allows the FBI to order any person or entity to turn over ‘any tangible things,’ so long as the FBI ‘specifies’ that the order is ‘for an authorized investigation … to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.’” Their analysis points out that the “FBI need not show probable cause, nor even reasonable grounds to believe, that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activity.” Lest this be considered an idle threat, earlier this year Attorney General John Ashcroft demanded the medical records of hundreds of abortion patients to determine if certain abortions were medically necessary. The move has been challenged by Planned Parenthood and others as a blatant invasion of medical privacy and as clearly unconstitutional. While this instance was not, per se, a consequence of the Patriot Act, the Act only strengthens the hand of Ashcroft and other government inquisitors in such intimidating and politically motivated fishing expeditions. The ACLU points out that these measures are a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment “by allowing the government to effect Fourth Amendment searches without a warrant and without showing probable cause.” Section 215 empowers the government to require a library to produce records showing who had borrowed a particular book and to require health care providers to produce medical records. The First Amendment is violated by prohibiting the disclosure of such snooping to others and empowering the FBI to investigate citizens on the basis of their exercise of First Amendment activity. Civil libertarians have denounced the Patriot Act, charging that it represents a clear and present danger to democracy. Four states and over 340 communities have passed resolutions condemning the Act in whole or in part. For more information on this movement, visit www.bordc.org. The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

National Clips

Sat, 21 Aug 2004 08:06:00 +0000

PITTSBURGH: ‘Health care, not warfare’ When 400 single-payer health care, peace and labor activists started their march, Aug. 15, demanding health care and ending the Iraq war, they were surprised that a small group of Bush-Cheney supporters crashed their action. Bill Neel, a march marshal and retired steelworker who was arrested in 2002 for defying the “Free Speech Zone” pen when Bush spoke here, couldn’t understand what the Bush-Cheney group was doing in the march since they oppose both single-payer health care and peace. Neel went toe to toe with Bush supporters. “The Bush people are all summer soldiers,” said Neel, who served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, “who want the poor to fight their wars and want their children to pay for it. I was a peace marshal but I’m allowed to get angry now. All of us should be angry. What this administration has done is made us all enemies and united the world against us.” Billionaires for Bush, a street theater group, had the crowd laughing at the arrogant Bush tax cuts while denying veterans health care.

DENVER: Renewable, Green heat and electricity On Aug. 2, little red wagons pulled by children rolled through the streets of Denver delivering petitions bearing 110,000 signatures to the Secretary of State. The children were part of a grassroots campaign of over 1000 volunteers to place the issue requiring seven of the state’s utility corporations to use renewable sources, solar, wind and others, to generate 10 percent of their electricity by 2015. The state requires 67,000 signatures of registered voters to achieve ballot status for the initiative. The petitions are being reviewed. Republican Speaker of the Colorado House, Lola Spradley, supports the campaign because “Ranchers and farmers can harvest a bumper crop of renewable energy that can bring important economic development to rural Colorado.” Democratic Congressman Mark Udall is on board. “It is a crucial time to think about energy security,” he said. “We need to prepare for the future by reducing our dependence on unstable foreign energy sources.” Money is rolling in to stop the campaign. Xcel, one of corporations that would be regulated if the ballot issue is successful, leads the corporate pack. It raised natural gas, used for heat, by 73 percent in 2003 and plans another rate increase of 15–20 percent this fall. Xcel’s executive, Wayne Brunette, took home a reported $2,461,671 in 2003 and he is just one of a bevy of executives who cleared $1 million. Their priorities, according to Denver Post columnist Diane Carman, are clear: “namely, profits.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Kroger workers approve contract Over 10,000 grocery workers, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227, walked the picket lines to save their health and pensions and they won. Workers voted to approve a new contract, covering workers in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, by a 4–1 margin, Aug. 10. The contract failed at stores in five rural Kentucky communities. Kroger workers struck in California, West Virginia and Kentucky for their health care. Workers hit Kroger where it hurts, their profit margin, to hang on to life and death medical benefits. Kroger said the strikes cost the corporation $246 million in profits. “Going in, I didn’t think we’d get to where we got on health insurance,” said union negotiating committee member Stephen Hopkins. “Both sides walked away a little mad — and that’s a good contract.” Grocery workers will continue under their current health care plan until 2007 when they will choose between a plan where they will pay a weekly co-payment or a plan with no co-payment, but reduced benefits. Their pensions are intact. Workers won an 8 percent wage increase over the three-year life of the agreement, improved seniority protections and store transfer rights.

CHARLESTON, W.Va.: Rainbow/Push, unions plan Labor Day On Sept. 6, this battleground state will see the biggest Labor Day celebration in years. Jesse Jackson is coming to town for the rally on the Kanawha riverfront joining Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, Indigo Girls and the Carpenter Ants. While the rally officially endorses no candidate, its theme is “Reinvest in America: Put America Back to Work,” the same as a caravan led by the Rev. Jackson and United Mine Workers Union President Cecil Roberts in June. “We have two goals,” said organizer George Korn, an Ohio University communications professor, “One is to have a great time and celebrate labor. The other is to continue to call attention to the issues this (election) campaign is all about: jobs, health care and education. It is about change. Wal-Mart jobs [Wal-Mart is the largest employer in West Virginia], McDonald’s jobs are not jobs to help parents send their kids to college.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that since Bush was sworn in, West Virginia has lost 334,000 manufacturing jobs.

ATLANTA: African American woman to run for Senate When the new Congress is seated in January 2005, the now all-white U.S. Senate may have not one but two African American senators, Democrats Barack Obama from Illinois and Denise Majette from the Peach State. Majette, who defeated Cynthia McKinney for Congress in 2002, becomes the first African American and first woman ever nominated for the office by either Republican or Democratic Georgians. Georgians went to the polls Aug. 3. Majette was the only African American in a field of eight candidates, which included one other woman. “In terms of my appeal, it’s not just to African Americans. I won a county in the northern part of the state, right near the Tennessee border, and it is one of two counties here in Georgia that has no African American residents,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all the sacrifices that Dr. King and John Lewis and Joe Lowery and countless other people made for me to be in the position that I’m in, being a sitting member of Congress as an African American woman and to be the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate from the state of Georgia,” Majette said. National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com).

Anti-immigrant law hit

Sat, 21 Aug 2004 08:02:00 +0000

HOUSTON — U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) has introduced controversial legislation to sharply curtail the rights and daily activities of immigrants. The legislation would block undocumented workers in the U.S. from opening bank accounts and deny them any access to Social Security payments. Culberson has cloaked this reactionary legislation, an amendment to a House appropriations bill, as a measure to enhance national security. Attempting to exploit the fears generated by the Bush administration rhetoric about “terrorists,” Culberson claims that Middle Eastern terrorists have disguised themselves by using “Hispanic” names and that his bill will help keep such terrorists out. Among other things, the amendment would make it much more difficult for immigrants to use foreign IDs, such as the “matricula consular” issued by the Mexican government, to open bank accounts. Culberson’s legislation has been roundly criticized by human rights organizations as well as representatives from the Service Employees International Union. They point out that undocumented workers are making substantial contributions to our economy. The Houston chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has challenged Culberson to a debate on his proposed legislation. LULAC has pointed out that denying immigrants access to bank accounts leaves them vulnerable to being robbed because they must carry cash. John Martinez is Culberson’s opponent in the November election. In his web site, he clearly opposes Culberson’s “anti-immigrant legislation.” Martinez’ statement reads, “While the amendment will not keep us secure, it will hurt millions of honest, hardworking, but unauthorized workers who are trying to develop roots in the community.” He points out that curtailing the civil rights of immigrants hurts everyone. Culberson’s campaign materials are blatantly racist and attempt to incite the fears of U.S. citizens. He has a page titled “Winning the war begins with protecting our borders,” featuring a reprint of a Norman Rockwell painting depicting Caucasian parents tucking their children into bed. The materials say, “We cannot win the war on terror and protect our families unless we protect our borders.” Culberson adds, “If necessary, I would support deploying enough troops to line the entire southern border from Brownsville to San Diego to stop the flood [of immigrants].” More than one observer has noted that Culberson’s legislative assault on immigrants is similar to the ideas expounded by a number of right-wing extremists, including Germany’s Adolf Hitler, France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen, Austria’s Jeorg Haider and Louisiana’s David Duke. The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

Shifting political winds in Illinois a nationwide trend?

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 07:23:00 +0000

The steady erosion of support for Bush’s ultra-right policies led the Kerry campaign earlier this summer to expand the list of potential “swing states” it believed to be competitive. Now there are indications that some congressional races once thought to be uncompetitive are in play too.

The Democrats need to pick up 12 seats in the House of Representatives and two seats in the Senate to break the Republican majorities. The most recent polls show 48 percent favoring a Democratic Congress compared to 44 percent supporting a Republican one.

“We are seeing a perfect storm beginning to develop,” Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.), the House Democratic Campaign chair, said recently. “Voters believe the country is going in the wrong direction.”

New developments in Illinois reflect an erosion of support for Bush and the ultra-right Republican policies. While Republicans have already written off a victory for Bush in Illinois, many moderate Republicans here are increasingly alarmed by the potential for a cascading effect in the U.S. Senate race and congressional races.

A deeply divided Illinois GOP took six weeks to select a replacement for Jack Ryan in the race against Democrat Barack Obama for the open U.S. Senate seat. Ryan dropped out after a sex scandal became public. Potential replacements withdrew because they didn’t think they could beat Obama. A progressive state senator who spoke out against the Iraq war, Obama drew national attention with his landslide primary victory. He would become only the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

The selection of ultra-right African American commentator and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes reflects a deepening crisis for the Republican Party. Republicans were badly whipped here in 2002 when Democrats won all but one of the statewide races. Bitter differences between ultra-right and moderate wings of the state Republican Party erupted after that election and have never healed. Keyes, who doesn’t live in Illinois, was the candidate of the ultra-right wing and religious fundamentalists, and his selection shows that they hold the upper hand for the moment.

In choosing Keyes, the Republicans are exposing their racism. They will hide behind Keyes to launch vicious attacks against Obama. The Republican campaign undoubtedly will seek to divide and confuse voters through demagogic appeals for a ban of gay marriage and abortion, and elimination of affirmative action. Some moderate Republican leaders are openly noncommittal on Keyes, having concluded that an ultra-right platform will not win and may even hurt other races.

Other developments indicate Illinois voters are growing increasingly disenchanted with the ultra-right Bush policies. Two long-time right-wing Republican incumbents in traditionally Republican suburban Chicago congressional districts are now facing competitive races — Reps. Henry Hyde in the 6th CD and Phil Crane in the 8th CD.

Recent polls in Crane’s district show only 36 percent would vote for him. The race is being tracked as one of the nation’s most competitive. The Republicans are so concerned that they have gone into emergency mode and are targeting Crane’s campaign for special help.

Crane’s opponent, Melissa Bean, opposed him two years ago and received 43 percent of the vote. Bean, a small business consultant, has the support of the labor movement, women’s organizations, environmentalists and several large newspapers. She was recently added to Emily’s List, which gives contributions to progressive candidates in competitive races.

Hyde, who led the charge to impeach President Clinton, is opposed by Christine Cegelis, an Internet consultant and former member of the Communications Workers of America. Cegelis opposed the Iraq war, and supports a single-payer universal health care system and the Apollo Project jobs program advanced by labor and environmentalists.

The suburban “collar” counties around Chicago, including DuPage County, the traditional center of Republican power in the state, have been changing politically. In the primaries, Obama received more votes in the suburban counties than Ryan, the Republican victor.

Voting shifts reflect the growing influence of working class, Latino and African American voters. But they also indicate that moderate Republicans are increasingly rejecting the party’s extreme right-wing policies.

Ultra-right candidates for president and Senate could be a real drag for the Republicans and spur defeats down the ballot in Illinois. The growing anti-ultra-right coalition, now mobilizing for a massive vote for Kerry and Obama (in Illinois), should take a fresh look at the new possibilities to inflict even more defeats.

John Bachtell is district organizer of the Communist Party of Illinois. He can be reached at jbachtell@rednet.org.

Dump Bush movement says we can do it

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 06:43:00 +0000

BOSTON — John Kerry and John Edwards left the Democratic National Con-vention July 29 to barnstorm across the country, buoyed by ringing calls both inside and outside the convention for George W. Bush’s defeat as a menace to world peace and democracy.

Pollsters claimed that the convention produced only a small “bounce” for the Democratic nominees, but a combined total of 100,000 people showed up at campaign rallies the following week, including 17,000 in Scranton, 25,000 in Harrisburg, 10,000 in Greensburg — all in Pennsylvania, 10,000 in Wheeling, W.Va., and 25,000 in Canton, Ohio.

The convention delegates as well as the estimated 35,000 activists in Boston put aside their many and sometimes profound differences in the interests of one overriding historic imperative: Dump Bush!

The scores of forums and rallies at churches, hotels and campuses complemented and reinforced the message of unity against Bush and the ultra-right. Hardly a single constituency was overlooked. More than 5,000 youth turned out for a “Rock the Vote” concert featuring Maroon Five and LL Cool J on July 29.

The Old South Church was packed for an interfaith service July 28, on the theme “Let Justice Roll,” in which preachers quoted scripture to uphold the rights of the poor and the oppressed. The congregation read aloud in unison, “We insist that everyone has the opportunity to work, be compensated fairly … the right to organize … a fair minimum wage and a true liveable wage.”

The service, sponsored by the National Council of Churches and other faith-based groups, is to be repeated in churches and temples across the nation as an answer to Bush’s hijacking of religion to promote his ultra-right, anti-union agenda.

Meanwhile at the Fleet Center, many convention speeches showed the stark difference between the ultra-right Republican agenda and the Democrats backed by a broad “oust Bush” movement. Convention delegates were a cross-section of the country itself. Nearly 40 percent of the 3,500 delegates were people of color and 800 were union members. Speakers hailed a unity in Democratic ranks not seen in 50 years.

But the Democrats didn’t just stop with appeals for party unity. They called for an end to the nasty GOP tactics used to divide the country, whether based on race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois, said in his prime-time keynote speech that certain forces like to keep the country divided between “red states” and “blue states.” But “E pluribus unum … Out of many, one,” he said.

Winning the undecided

Great pains were taken in the convention’s final session to present Kerry as a war hero, surrounded by his fellow Vietnam War vets, ready to serve as commander in chief. There was a parade of generals, admirals, and veterans, including former Sen. Max Cleland, a triple-amputee Vietnam vet, who introduced the nominee. Kerry vowed to increase the numbers of troops by 40,000 but promised they would not be deployed to Iraq – a concession to the demands of the peace movement.

“I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war,” Kerry said, vowing to “end the back-door draft of National Guardsmen and reservists.”

His promise to appoint an attorney general “who upholds the Constitution” was clearly directed at John Ashcroft. The speech was greeted with cheers reflecting confidence that Kerry’s eloquence succeeded in deflating Bush’s pose as a “war president.”

Delegates respond

Delegate Peggy Tanksley, dressed in a stars and stripes costume, told the World, “As a delegate with AFSCME and Ohio, I care about letting people know that labor is alive and well and will most definitely bring victory to Kerry in November. Bush is dishonest and arrogant about it. He lied to the American people. I feel sorry for John Kerry because he will have to undo all the damage that Bush has done.”

Ana Riewerts, a Cuban American delegate from Hoboken, N.J., denounced Bush’s draconian measures that make it virtually impossible for families to contact their loved ones in Cuba. “I believe that the new policy of the Bush administration towards Cuba has divided the Cuban American community for the first time in 40 years,” she said.

Carmen Boudier, a delegate from Hartford, Conn., said, “This convention has attracted lots of women and many from the younger generation. … Our future is at stake and they will play a great role in defining it.”

Bush-Cheney counterattack

The convention and the outpouring that greeted the Kerry-Edwards road trip sent the White House scrambling for a diversionary ploy. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge convened a news conference and raised the terror index to “Code Orange.” The alert, he intoned, “is the result of the president’s leadership in the war against terror.”

Later it leaked out that the alert was based on three-year-old intelligence.

The Republicans’ hopes for holding on to the White House rest on their success in dividing the voters and instigating fear. In Boston, Ridge had filled the streets with police from as far away as Washington, as well as National Guard units, in hopes of instilling fear. But the atmosphere was upbeat if not outright jubilant.

Pox on both your houses rejected

The argument that Kerry is “Bush lite” and should be rejected in favor of a vote for Ralph Nader was resoundingly rejected. That argument surfaced at the convention of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), which packed the gymnasium of Roxbury Community College July 29.

After one speaker expressed disdain for all “you Democrats” forced to endure the “boring” Democratic convention, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) took the floor. With anger in his voice, Conyers said, “This is the most exciting convention I have been to in my life.”

He asked for a show of hands of those thinking of voting for a third-party candidate. Conyers told the scattered few that their votes could help to a second term “the most crypto-fascist government that has ever existed in my lifetime. … Don’t tell me Ralph Nader didn’t cost Al Gore the 2000 election, because he did. Don’t tell me he can’t cost Kerry the election in 2004. He can.”

Questioning progressives who could be responsible for a Bush second term, Conyers said, “Is that what you are able to show millions of potential progressive voters?”

He added, “There are 97 days between now and the day that may be the most important in your lifetime so far. Is it going to be Kerry and Edwards?” The crowd answered with stormy applause.

With unity, victory is in our reach

The PDA convention underlined the role played by progressives in uniting the anti-Bush coalition and convincing them that victory is within reach if they stand and fight. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean decried “those in the Democratic Party who did not stand up against the most radical right-wing extremist of our lifetime. … I say it again: We are not safer since Saddam Hussein was arrested. Now a majority of the American people agrees with me.”

Victory for Bush-Cheney and the ultra-right, he said, rests on “the 50 percent of the people who do not vote. You know how you get that swing vote? By strong convictions.”

A few moments later, Dean greeted Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), hailing him as the “real deal” for inspiring a grassroots movement that continues to grow. The two former presidential candidates stood on the stage with their hands clasped together over their heads as the crowd cheered.

“We’re going to make John Kerry the next president of the United States,” Kucinich said. “But we are not going to be suddenly quiet. If they think that, they haven’t been watching. … This election is not just about a race that ends in November. It’s about continuing the struggle and never to yield. Our efforts are constant and ceaseless.”

Kucinich welcomed Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) to the platform. The two lawmakers mustered the 126 lawmakers who voted against the Iraq war. “Being a progressive means we don’t want our civil rights and civil liberties violated,” she said. “It means jobs with justice. Not only are we going to get our voters to the polls, we are going to make sure our votes are not stolen. And we are going to insure that we have a seat at the table of a new Kerry-Edwards administration.”

That same note of urgency and hope was expressed by former California legislator Tom Hayden, who told the crowd that Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were forced to respond to powerful “social movements” for progressive change during moments of grave national crisis. Kerry too will face those pressures if elected, he said.

“This election is going to be a referendum on whether we go along with this war or not,” Hayden said. “If Bush gets a second term, the rest of the world will say, ‘Well, I guess the majority of the American people go along with this madness.’ Elect Kerry and give him the mandate to end the war and take the country back from the right.” The crowd responded with a long standing ovation.

We can win Ohio

Jim Barrett, a Kucinich delegate from Cleveland and retired director of the Cleveland Municipal Court, was sitting in the crowd. “I think this is a great awakening,” he told the World. “People of the same mind are coming together and learning they are not alone. … We are leaving Boston energized. A populist leader like Dennis Kucinich gives us a rallying point. Dennis was the first to say that Bush told ‘lies and damn lies’ about his invasion of Iraq.”

Ohio voters can be convinced to vote against Bush, he said. “We’ve got to get a large vote in cities like Cleveland. Nobody wins Ohio without a plurality of 150,000 votes in Cuyahoga County. What is happening is that people who thought of themselves as conservatives are hurting. The failed policies of Bush, his outsourcing of jobs, has played havoc on the people of Ohio.”

Incredible energy to dump Bush

Inayat Lalani, a retired surgeon and Kerry delegate from Fort Worth, Texas, also attended the PDA convention. “The delegates to the Democratic National Convention are far to the left of the leadership,” he told the World. “On Iraq, the delegates want the troops brought home now. They want a single-payer health care plan. Expand Medicare to cover the whole population.”

He added, “We need a big Democratic sweep both in the presidential and congressional elections to convince the Democratic Party leadership that the people are a lot more liberal than they are willing to concede. The danger in pandering to the right is that more progressive voters will just stay at home.”

He shook his head vehemently when asked if Texas is a sure win for Bush. “No, not at all,” he said. “Texas is a battleground state. There will be another attempt to steal this election as they did in 2000, but we won’t let it happen.”

Kim Cohen, a Kucinich delegate from Boulder, Colo., said, “I personally plan to work like hell to get Kerry elected and at the same time put him on notice that I will be watching. Politics as usual is not acceptable. I am a nurse’s assistant in home health care for seniors. It costs $5,000 a month to put them in nursing homes. Home care is better for seniors and far more cost efficient. Kerry should change the system.”

Kerry sent John Norris, national field director of the Kerry/Edwards campaign, to appeal for PDA support. He flashed slides on a screen showing 21 battleground states with 5.8 million swing voters and millions of non-voters. “You are the most effective communicators in this campaign,” he said. “There is incredible energy this year like I’ve never seen before to take back the White House from George W. Bush.” The crowd roared.

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com.

Minimum wage outrage

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 04:59:00 +0000

The federal minimum legal wage is $5.15 per hour. That stinks! A full-time, minimum wage worker receives only $10,300 per year before taxes. By the end of this year, the value of the minimum wage will be close to its lowest level in 50 years. No wonder more than three-quarters of Americans believe increasing the minimum wage is an important priority.

You’d think increasing the minimum wage would be a no-brainer. But this summer, when New York’s Legislature voted to join 12 other states in raising the minimum wage, Republican Gov. George Pataki vetoed the measure. As this is being written, New Yorkers are pressuring the state Senate to override Pataki’s veto.

In Washington, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7 by April 2006, restoring it to 1968 levels. What would this accomplish?

• Raise the wages of over 16 million workers — almost 15 percent of the workforce.

• 623,000 single mothers and over a million married couples with children would benefit.

• Most of the workers (72 percent) who would benefit are adults (20 and over). Most are full-time workers.

• While Black and Hispanic workers would especially benefit from raising the minimum wage, about 60 percent of those benefiting would be white.

How could anyone be against this? The Herald Journal in Spartansburg, S.C., found a way. “Increasing the minimum wage would hurt those low-wage workers by taking away their jobs. … Congress should truly help the poor and refrain from raising the minimum wage.” You can read similar opinions on editorial pages around the country.

Amy Chasanov from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) answers these and similar arguments: After the last increase in the minimum wage in 1996-97, “Unemployment went down – not up – for workers across the boards, including those on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. Wages and incomes increased for everyone,” including low-wage workers.

Richard V. Burkhauser, chairman of the department of policy analysis and management at Cornell University, argues that only some minimum-wage workers are supporting families, and only 19 percent are single parents with children. He implies that, even if single parents deserve a raise, most of the others — especially teenagers, don’t.

I worked minimum wage jobs in the 1960s and 1970s, getting $1.25-$1.60 per hour — about $6.50 in today’s dollars. I still remember how angry I was. How could I save for college on $1.25 per hour? Since then, college costs have risen twice as fast as the minimum wage, and continues to rise at double-digit rates. No wonder so many kids are working full time while attending school. If Professor Burkhauser ever had to work for minimum wage, I’m sure he’s forgotten what it felt like.

Finally, Burkhauser argues that for workers who support families, it would be more efficient to increase the earned income tax credit (EITC), rather than the minimum wage.

That’s outrageous! The EITC is an important lifeline for low-income families. But he’s asking taxpayers to further subsidize poverty wages paid by McDonald’s and Wal-Mart. I’d rather make these giant corporations pay a decent wage, and have my tax money go for other things — like hiring young people for rehab projects in our cities, or maintenance in our national parks, or to staff summer camps and after school programs for younger kids.

Almost 70 years ago, urging passage of the original minimum wage legislation, President Franklin Roosevelt said, “No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level — I mean the wages of a decent living.” Today, $7 per hour isn’t nearly enough, but it’s better than $5.15.

I searched both presidential candidates’ websites for “minimum wage.” John Kerry supports raising the minimum to $7 by 2007, and, more important, wants to index it to inflation, so the minimum will rise automatically with the cost of living.

On the Bush website, I could find only one reference. In a July 14 meeting with supporters in Wisconsin, he assured a businessman that “If there is a minimum wage increase” (my emphasis), it will be “reasonable” and he will make sure small businesses aren’t penalized. Bush made it clear that, if he is forced to allow a small increase in the minimum wage, he will make sure that working-class taxpayers foot the bill through more corporate tax breaks.

The author can be reached at economics@cpusa.org.

Community Film Workshop of Chicago Learning the means of production

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 03:20:00 +0000

Movies. We all love them. While we munch popcorn we are transported into another world. They can make us laugh, cry and think. They can also make us go brain dead with violence and ignorance.

I like to stay and watch the film credits at the end of the movie and marvel at the number of people it takes to make one. What does a grip do? What is it like to be an editor? Who was behind the camera? Were there a lot of women? I watch for the union bugs at the end. I look at the names and try to discern (although you can’t always do that by name) if the crews are as multiracial and multi-ethnic as the U.S.

How can you get a job in the media industry? How can you learn to make a film?

If you live in Chicago then you are in luck, because the city’s South Side houses a national treasure for media arts education. The Community Film Workshop of Chicago (CFWC) provides low-cost, hands-on training for young people and adults who would like a job in the media industry or to learn to make films.

Not only that, but CFWC has a particular focus – to help guarantee that African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and other people of color and women are represented behind the camera.

CFWC developed hands-on media education programs including “Youth in Motion,” a youth-run media business, and Media Arts and New Technologies, an after-school program for 14- to 19-year-olds to learn digital media and computer animation. Teenagers from Crane High School, Ida B. Wells public housing, and the Englewood community participate in CFWC programs. Adult education programs are due to start at CFWC’s new Kennedy-King College offices in the fall.

Founded in 1971 by the late artist and photographer Jim Taylor, CFWC is the oldest media arts center in Chicago. Coming out of the fires of the massive civil rights struggles, CFWC was one of seven film workshops opened around the country with funding from private and public sources, including from the federal government. It was a time when many “Black” films were being made, like “Shaft” or “Foxy Brown,” and these film-making workshops were a way to help integrate the industry’s predominantly white workforce.

Margaret Caples is the executive director of CFWC. She took her first film class when CFWC opened. Caples, a social worker at the time, used video to enhance her group sessions. She met Taylor at CFWC and they later married.

“Artists are everywhere around us and that’s what makes us a people. Film is a very powerful medium. It could be a very healing art form and transform our society for good,” Caples told the World in a recent interview.

“Look at ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ – it’s a documentary that makes people think. Too often we are entrenched in an old way of thinking. We have to embrace what’s new. Our world is multicultural and international. We have to embrace that, knowing it’s going to make us better,” she said.

Funding for the arts and media education was badly damaged by right-wing attacks on the National Endowment for the Arts. Nationwide, CFWC is one of only two surviving workshops established in the 1970s.

Hollywood and New York City enjoy their reputation as film and media giants, but Chicago is sometimes referred to as the Third Coast. The state of Illinois and Chicago film offices are actively building local film production – and that means jobs.

Illinois has a “diversity clause” which qualifies production companies for tax credits and other breaks if their film staff is integrated, Caples said. “The sets should reflect the diversity of the state of Illinois.”

Racial diversity in the industry’s jobs is still a struggle, Caples said. There’s been some change, some higher visibility for Blacks in front of the camera, she said, but behind the camera there is not a lot of change, especially on movie sets. “It’s sad,” Caples said.

CFWC collaborates with the television and film industry’s many unions. Some graduates of CFWC have gone on to work for these unions. Caples, who grew up in a union household herself, knows the potential for positive change when communities and unions work together for common goals like jobs, good wages and equality.

“My dad brought up eight children, bought a house and had one of the best health plans. That’s what a union job can do for you,” she said.

Caples acknowledged institutionalized racism runs from who gets jobs and training to grant funding. “It’s a fact of life. Black institutions don’t get equal funding,” she said. “It’s all about jobs and controlling images – power. The medium is so powerful.”

Stephen Winter, a documentary filmmaker and CFWC graduate, told the World in an e-mail interview that racism in the industry is well documented, but you can hone your skills and make smart choices to “stay in the game.”

Winter also said, “In my experience class issues play a bigger part in one’s ability to succeed in film, even more than race – and certainly more than talent.”

Winter praised the high level of professionalism at CFWC. While there, he learned film theory and lighting, camera operation, screenwriting, gaffing, art direction, and even distribution and grant writing. “By the time CFWC was done with me, I was able to skip the first year of NYU’s three-year graduate film school program because I had already done more than the majority people in my freshman class.”

Winter produced a documentary feature called “Tarnation” that premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah and the Cannes Film Festival in France. The film received great reviews, including a big “thumbs up” from Roger Ebert, who called it “remarkable, powerful and heartbreaking.”

Winter added, “Very few people or organizations of any race or stripe have achieved such venerable and far-reaching results. The welcoming, nurturing and mentoring style of CFWC is singular in my experience.”

For more information about the Community Film Workshop, call (773) 667-3748 or visit www.cfwchicago.org.

The author can be reached at talbano@pww.org.

Canvassing voters to promote jobs, justice

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 02:58:00 +0000

CLEVELAND — “I would walk to the end of the earth to defeat George Bush,” said Elsa Maldonado with passion. In fact, Elsa, known as “Chachi,” did travel about 670 miles from her home in New Bedford, Mass., to Cleveland, where she is canvassing door-to-door and encouraging voter turnout in this key battleground state.

Chachi, 42, a “proud Puerto Rican” who grew up in the South Bronx of New York, is a mother and grandmother. Five years ago, she completed her high school diploma, and last year graduated magna cum laude from college with a degree in sociology and social service. After the adult education program she was teaching ran out of grant monies, Chachi, like millions of others, was sent to the unemployment line.

While in college, Chachi became an activist, helping win a struggle to stop the use of prison chain gangs to clean state highways in Massachusetts, and going door-to-door to help elect a progressive city councilor.

“My concerns are the same as most people,” she said. “Job loss, health care, and especially education for my kids and grandkids. The cutbacks and regulations of the Bush administration are another way to oppress minorities and everybody.”

Asked why she came to Ohio, Chachi explained, “This election could go either way. If my presence can help to defeat Bush then I’m going to help in any way needed.” She is very excited about her experience. “This is not just neighbors getting together, but states coming together … people from all walks of life with one purpose in mind — to get Bush out of office.”

Many political pundits consider Cleveland to be the epicenter of this presidential election. The surrounding Cuyahoga County is the strongest Democratic area in the state, could decide the election.

Speaking to his grassroots campaign volunteers recently, Dennis Kucinich, who represents the Cleveland area in the U.S. House, emphasized, “It is very rare to have the chance to determine the next president. This is for the future of the world.”

The author can be reached at joelle.fishman@pobox.com.

N. Calif. rallies against nuclear weapons

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 02:43:00 +0000

LIVERMORE, Calif. — Hundreds of protesters from around northern California gathered here in blazing summer heat Aug. 8 to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to renew their vow of “Never again!”

Following an early afternoon rally, chanting demonstrators marched to the gate of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — a key research facility for new nuclear arms — behind a giant banner proclaiming, “Books not Bombs!” There, under the watchful gaze of police in riot gear, they built a pile of donated books, later to be given to area social service organizations.

It was a family day, with marchers ranging in age from tiny infants to veterans of decades of protests. Young participants painted the colorful lead banner during a lively children’s program.

Speakers representing a spectrum of antiwar and community organizations emphasized the escalating threat from the Bush administration’s drive to develop new nuclear weapons and its stated willingness to use them. They demanded a shift of resources to meet human needs.

California Peace Action Executive Director Jon Rainwater called on demonstrators to urge their senators to deny funding for new nukes, as the House of Representatives did earlier this year. He told the crowd, “If we build a grassroots movement together, writing letters, making phone calls, getting people out to vote in battleground states, we will beat back the Bush vision, and the vision that will be realized will be our vision to abolish nuclear weapons.”

Noting that Sept. 11 provided the pretext for the Bush administration to introduce the Patriot and Homeland Security Acts “that have resulted in anger, humiliation, frustration and total despair in our country,” Samina Faheem Sundas, executive director of American Muslim Voice, called for “bridging the gap between all communities” to overcome the scapegoating that now targets Arabs and Muslims.

“We’re here to say ‘never again’ to nuclear arms and to war,” Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley CAREs, told the crowd. “We’re also here to look forward, to look for the things that we want in our culture and our society — books, schools, libraries, health care, creativity, cooperation.” Kelley told of the enormous environmental damage the lab has caused in the Livermore area, and the area elementary schools that are closing because the resources have been diverted to the military budget.

Jacques Depelchin, a spokesman for the Ota Benga International Alliance for Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said, “From where we stand in Africa and beyond, the clouds which arose over Hiroshima and Nagasaki struck us as the culmination of five centuries which fast-forwarded humanity from its cradle to the brink of its grave.” Depelchin urged that the memory be preserved of the Congolese miners who died after extracting the uranium for the first bombs.

Among other speakers were Jacqueline Cabasso and Andrew Lichterman from Western States Legal Foundation, Dr. Robert Gould of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Maurice Campbell of the Communities First Coalition in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bayview-Hunter’s Point, and author Rebecca Solnit.

Similar observances took place throughout the country, including in Chicago; Seattle; New York; Austin, Texas; and in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the site of another nuclear research complex.

The author can be reached at mbechtel@pww.org.

Show Me state shows up to vote

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 02:25:00 +0000

News Analysis

ST. LOUIS — Voters came out in record numbers for the state’s Aug. 3 primary elections. Nearly 1.5 million Missourians voted this year, compared to 930,000 in the 2002 primaries.

A big factor driving the high turnout was the state’s gubernatorial race. With a record turnout of 1,450,000, incumbent Gov. Bob Holden lost the Democratic bid to Claire McCaskill by less than 50,000 votes. In the last gubernatorial primary race four years ago, only 715,000 came out to vote.

While both candidates were endorsed by various labor unions, McCaskill is the more conservative of the two, appealing to many rural Missourians. She opposes gay marriage, is less decisive on gun control and likely received support from Republican voters.

Missouri has open primaries. Eligible voters may pick a ballot of their choice. Undoubtedly, many Republicans eager to defeat Holden and confident of Matt Blunt’s nomination as the Republican gubernatorial candidate voted for McCaskill.

Blunt received 88 percent of Republican ballots, almost 534,000 votes. His nearest competitor received 26,000 votes, only 4 percent of the GOP vote.

Nationally, Democrats and Republicans have their eyes on Missouri’s gubernatorial race. Democrats look to McCaskill to solidify the union vote in St. Louis and Kansas City, attract African American and working-class voters on issues like health care, education and jobs, appeal to rural women voters who might otherwise vote Republican and, as a result, swing the state to John Kerry.

Republicans count on Blunt to solidify their anti-choice, anti-gay base, and mobilize his conservative supporters to swing Missouri to George Bush.

Only one president since 1900 has been elected without winning Missouri’s electoral votes (Eisenhower in 1956). What these two candidates and their grassroots supporters do in the next three months could affect the direction of our nation for years to come.

In the 70th State Representative District, the victory of Democratic underdog John L. Bowman sent a clear message to the conservative Democratic machine that grassroots organizing and old-fashioned door knocking can make the difference.

Voters turned out in droves in the 70th District, a predominantly African American district that makes up much of North St. Louis. Nearly 6,000 voted in the district, and Bowman got over 3,000 votes. In the 2002 primaries, only 2,800 voted in the 70th District.

Bowman, a member of the United Auto Workers and Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, is considered by many to be “Labor’s best friend in Jefferson City,” Missouri’s state capital. He was also the only pro-choice candidate in the race. He will likely run unchallenged this November.

After his Aug. 3 victory, Bowman told the World, “Health care is a primary concern of mine. Stable communities with good paying, union jobs is a primary concern of mine. Any piece of legislation that provides tax incentives to corporations who move jobs out of state, I will oppose vigorously. And I will fight wholeheartedly for a women’s right to choose what to do with her body.”

Bowman hopes to continue the trend and double voter turnout this November in the 70th District.

Also on Aug. 3, Missouri voters approved an amendment to the State Constitution banning same-sex marriage. The amendment adds the following to the State Constitution: “That to be valid and recognized in this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.”

The amendment received over 1 million votes. Missouri’s vote is the first since last year’s historic ruling in Massachusetts legalizing same-sex marriage. According to the Constitutional Defense League, a gay rights organization, the Missouri amendment will provide legal precedent and justification for further discriminatory policies and laws at state and local levels. Also, the amendment could be interpreted as prohibiting civil unions or domestic partnerships currently recognized by the governments of Kansas City, University City, and the city of St. Louis.

At least nine other states will vote on similar amendments this year. Louisiana residents will vote on a marriage amendment Sept. 18. Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah will vote on the issue Nov. 2.

The Aug. 3 primaries show the range of issues that will determine the outcome of the November elections here. If the primaries are any indication, there could be a historic voter turnout on Nov. 2 in this battleground state.

The author can be reached at tonypec@pww.org.

No jobs, endless war: Bush has made a mess From labor to hip-hop, voters mobilize to defeat GOP

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 02:14:00 +0000

CHICAGO — Eight thousand Pillowtex workers were thrown out of work a year ago when the textile giant shut its doors. Most are still out of work and will soon lose their unemployment benefits. Forty-three percent of them were behind in their rent or mortgage as of last fall, and a tenth had received foreclosure or eviction notices. Ninety-three percent say they can’t find affordable health care.

Joan Moton of Eden, N.C., the former president of the Pillowtex UNITE local, was one of several workers who told their stories to Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards this week at the AFL-CIO’s Executive Council meeting here.

The government’s latest job reports only confirm what Moton and other ordinary Americans already knew: under George W. Bush’s CEO-friendly policies, conditions are getting worse, not better, for working families. “Bush has made a mess of this,” AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said in Chicago.

In response, the nation’s unions have suspended business-as-usual, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told reporters at the Executive Council meeting Aug. 10. Hundreds of AFL-CIO staff have headed out into the field, joining thousands of rank-and-filers knocking on doors across the country to turn out the vote.

The Labor Department’s July figures show job creation is stagnant, and long-time workers are losing their jobs at the highest rate on record.

There were 1.7 million long-term unemployed workers in July, up from 660,000 in January 2001. For those laid-off workers lucky enough to land a new full-time job, 57 percent earned less in their new job — their median weekly pay was 16 percent lower than at their old job.

Nationally only 32,000 new jobs were reported in July, following a skimpy 78,000 increase in June. These make a mockery of Bush’s claim that his 2003 tax-cuts for the rich would create 5.5 million jobs by the end of this year (306,000 a month). The largest growth was in low-paying jobs with few or no benefits.

Joblessness among African Americans and Latinos has increased — more than one in 10 African Americans and one in 14 Latinos are jobless. Overall unemployment remains essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent.

For those with jobs, paychecks have not kept up with inflation. Workers’ real weekly and hourly wages are lower now than they were in November 2001, when the so-called economic “recovery” began, the Economic Policy Institute reports.

Economic insecurity, the health care crisis, and deepening discontent over the Iraq war are fueling frustration and anger that is sparking grassroots anti-Bush voter activity across the country.

“It’s not just one thing,” Arizona AFL-CIO Community Services Director Jim Watson said. “It’s people’s right to protect overtime, it’s cuts in funding for first responders, it’s ‘No Child Left Behind,’ — there’s a lot of doublespeak by this administration.”

Arizona’s manufacturing base in mining has taken “a big hit,” and the low-paid call center jobs that have come into the area are “modern-day sweatshops,” Watson said.

Working families, the unemployed and underemployed, “just can’t pay the light bills, don’t know where to turn when they can’t pay their mortgage,” he told the World. The government’s jobless figures don’t report people who have given up, whose unemployment insurance ran out, who just don’t report in, he said.

Tucson neighborhoods are being saturated with voter registration and mail-in ballot canvassers from a variety of progressive groups, local activist Joe Bernick told the World.

Undeterred by Tucson’s 100-plus degree August heat, union members have kicked off neighborhood “labor walks,” knocking on union households’ doors, talking to them about issues, educating them about what’s at stake in the Nov. 2 vote. On Aug. 21, area union leaders and Rep. Raul Grijalva will headline a Working Families Boot Camp to mobilize rank-and-file involvement.

Watson, the 2004 Tucson labor coordinator, sees a “very increased level of interest” in the presidential elections this year, with more volunteers coming out. People are “sick and tired,” he said. “They don’t believe this administration has lived up to its promises.” The election of Grijalva and Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano in 2002 showed people their votes can bring results, Watson said. “They think their vote matters.”

In Ohio, young hip-hop activists are organizing a fall bus tour to small colleges in isolated spots around the state. The hip-hoppers will tell students why they need to get out to vote.

One thing that stands out for this generation, Ohio Hip-Hop Political Assembly coordinator Angie Woodson said, is the Iraq war. They see the cost of the war leading to cuts in education funding and tuition increases, and they’re nervous about possible reintroduction of the draft. “They are staying in school because there are no jobs. They don’t know how they are going to pay back their student loans. They are frightened and angry,” she told the World.

The hip-hop generation is “anywhere from 18 to 40, but goes beyond,” said Woodson. “It’s a rainbow effect. The music pulls everyone under one umbrella, color-blind, all social classes, people who have been incarcerated, high school dropouts, college students.”

The multi-racial Ohio group has 68 members organizing in every city in the state, she said. It is part of a growing hip-hop political activist movement that drew wide attention with a National Hip-Hop Political Convention this June in Newark, N.J. It will announce a national agenda at the Washington Press Club Aug. 19.

“The level of motivation, the energy, is phenomenal,” Woodson said.

The author can be reached at suewebb@pww.org. Roberta Wood contributed to this story.click here for Spanish text

Payments to Black farmers blocked by U.S.

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 05:54:00 +0000

Aggressive legal tactics by the Bush administration have deliberately undermined a landmark 1997 civil rights settlement with African American farmers, turning the claims process into another chapter in a long history of discriminatory treatment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A report released June 20 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the National Black Farmers Association finds that almost nine out of 10 Black farmers have been denied compensation for discrimination over USDA crop loans, even though U.S. District Court for the District Columbia – in approving the settlement – had described compensation payment as “automatic.” Instead the USDA, under the leadership of President Bush’s Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, has withheld three-quarters of the $2.3 billion agreed to in the settlement.

“The USDA aggressively fought Black farmers,” said EWG’s Ariane Callendar, a lead author of the report. The investigation found that USDA paid $12 million dollars to U.S. Department of Justice lawyers for 56,000 hours spent contesting the claims of 129 Black farmers.

“That means the Department of Justice spent on average 460 hours attacking each farmer,” says Callendar. And these figures, she says, represent only a small portion of the time and energy expended to avoid paying the aggrieved farmers. USDA managed to deny payment to 82,000 of the 94,000 African American farmers who sought restitution.

African American farmers brought suit against USDA in 1997 in a historic civil rights case known as Pigford v. Glickman (now titled Pigford v. Veneman), claiming that USDA systematically discriminated against African Americans by denying them crop loans readily made available to comparable white farmers.

The Reagan administration eliminated the USDA’s Office of Civil Rights in 1982, leaving African-American farmers no avenue for appealing loan denials they believed to be discriminatory.

In 1996, the Clinton administration re-established USDA’s office of Civil Rights, and in 1997 made an admission of discrimination in its own study of USDA operations. Finalized under Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, the settlement was based on USDA’s 1997 civil rights study, coupled with the absence of any recourse for Black farmers to discriminatory practices from 1982 to 1996.

Over the past 20 years, the number of farms operated by African Americans has plummeted from 54,367 in 1982 to 29,090 in 2002 (the suit included 94,000 farmers because many farms have more than one farmer). This dramatic decline, the report concludes, has been due in part to lack of equal access to USDA loans.

The report details “the willful obstruction of justice by USDA” and demands immediate action by Congress. “Only Congress can make whole the 82,000 farmers who were denied restitution arbitrarily, after USDA had agreed, in settling the case, that their discrimination claims were valid.”

– Reprinted with permission from www.bushgreenwatch.org.

Cervix removed? Still need PAP test

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 05:09:00 +0000

There are reports popping up in the medical literature regarding the use of the Papanicolaou smear (PAP test) and its uselessness in women who have had their cervices removed. This has been debated from time to time over the years, but is now at the forefront. The conclusion was that the PAP is not needed without the cervix risk and that is becoming a recommendation by many authoritative gynecologic organizations. In view of where we all stand in the politics of world medicine today, perhaps another view of the issue is worth a peek. There are two sides to the coin.

As to the science, there is definitely value in taking a vaginal PAP in women without cervices. I did them for my almost four decades in gynecologic practice.

There are indeed those rare but nonetheless existent cases of vaginal cancers that are PAP screened and diagnosed. Rare, yes, but extremely virulent as compared to cervical malignancies and essentially the only chance for survival being early detection. The number of false positives that can have cancers ruled out by modern, noninvasive techniques, such as vaginal colposcopy, short of a simply biopsy is equally as rare, especially as our techniques become more refined. And there are known cases of lingering cervical cancer cells that can become vaginally vibrant years later.

There is also the detection of certain strains of the papilloma virus (HPV), a known forerunner to cervical cancer and likely vaginal as well.

Then there are the common vaginal infections of lesser morbidity that are PAP-uncovered and handily treated. When early changes of a vaguely suspicious nature are PAP-detected, the local application of estrogen cream and repeat tests after a known interval often eliminate the problem and give the patient that needed added security.

I can think of many needlessly-performed tests by insecure and inexperienced physicians that are infrequent enough and are dealt with when the clinician gains that security and maturity. But the PAP smear does not fall into that category.

This is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. The words “cost effective” have no place in the management of our health concerns. We are in an era of preventive diagnostic procedures such as colonoscopies, sputum tests, TB skin testing, cystocopy, laparoscopy and mammograms, for starters, which can be dismissed if finances are allowed to be the governing factors. And those others are far more expensive and invasive.

As we waste billions on wars, space-military adventures and $640 rolls of bath tissue in Halliburton’s non-contested budget, isn’t there a certain shame in contesting the relatively minutia expense of an occasional PAP smear? Aren’t we at all embarrassed by even debating the issue? I cannot think of a better way to overspend than on our health. Instead of shooting first and asking questions later, why not PAP first and be thankful when it is negative?

This also reflects the two-tier medicine practiced in just about all the world, exceptions noted. In the underserved world that includes billions of needy women, their female tract pathologies are often the results of years of neglect, poor nutrition and callous and abysmal prenatal and intrapartum care. Vaginal fistulas and inflammations become chronic so having something so simple and innocuous as a PAP smear visit is often the only link these women patients have to their doctors and clinics. More attention, not less, must become the rule of thumb.

As that billboard cried out at Woodstock an era ago, wouldn’t it be great to spend all we wanted on our health care but were forced to have a church Bingo game to raise funds for another B-1 bomber?

Don Sloan is an ob-gyn physician and author of “Choice: A Doctor’s Experience with the Abortion Dilemma.” He can be reached at donsloan @ nyc.rr.com.

Court orders Trinity River flow increase

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 05:07:00 +0000

SACRAMENTO – In a landmark decision greeted with jubilation by representatives of the Hoopa and Yurok tribes, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the release of river flows for more fish habitat. The decision would compel the federal Bureau of Reclamation to release 47 percent of river flows for fish and 53 percent for agriculture and power.

“We’re just elated,” said Clifford Lyle Marshall, chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. “Hoopa is a very happy town. The timing of the decision surprised us, since we were told the decision could go either way.”

The court upheld the federal government’s December 2000 Trinity River Record of Decision (ROD) to increase water flows for fish. Prior to the ROD, up to 90 percent of the river had been diverted to agriculture and power users, resulting in dramatic declines in salmon and steelhead populations.

“Nothing remains to prevent the full implementation of the ROD, including its complete flow plan for the Trinity River,” the court ruled July 13.

“This decision is awesome,” said Marshall. “The river is a vital part of the economy of our tribe and the northern California economy. The decision gives the river the priority it deserved in the first place. It means that the river will get water, salmon runs will come back, tourism will return, recreational fishermen will come back, people will be eating in the local restaurants, and the commercial salmon fishery may be sustained.”

Although Marshall said the court made its decision based on the law and over 20 years of scientific studies, the outpouring of support for Trinity River restoration by the public, newspapers and politicians throughout the state had a lot to do with the victory.

“It wasn’t a case of Indians versus farmers,” emphasized Marshall. “The people of California raised their voice to support the Trinity River. The river should be regarded as a national treasure. We had a great alliance of people, with lot of efforts on many fronts. Public opinion drives public policy – and the people of California decided that for a small price, the Trinity River could be restored.”

Although this decision portends well for the future of salmon fisheries, the prospects for this year’s salmon runs on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers are looking dire because the federal government granted 100 percent of contract flows to agricultural water users in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon, according to Fletcher. The Trinity, which originates in northern California, flows west into Klamath River.

The Department of Interior, under pressure from Bush’s political strategist Karl Rove to curry favor among agribusiness for the Republicans, decided to cut off flows for fish and divert them to subsidized agribusiness in the Klamath Basin in 2001. The Bush administration’s change in water policy resulted in the largest fish kill in U.S. history when over 34,000 salmon perished in September 2002. The majority of these fish were destined for the Trinity River, the Klamath’s largest tributary.

The Westlands Water District, in conjunction with the Northern California Power Association (NCPA) and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) filed suit against the federal government in 2000 right after former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt issued his ROD. However, a broad coalition of Indian Tribes, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and environmental groups forced SMUD and three members of the NCPA – Palo Alto, the Port of Oakland and Alameda to pullout of the suit.

Whether Westlands, the largest federal irrigation project in the country, will appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court is unknown at this time.

Troy Fletcher, executive director of the Yurok Tribe, said, “The bottom line is that the fish won in this round. Now there is a need to defend this ruling and to make sure that the ROD is implementing the decision.”

Tom Stokely, senior resource planner of Trinity County, was optimistic about the outcome of the decision.

Stokely said that the decision, when implemented, would result in an approximate doubling of the total volume of water released down the river. “Salmon need water to thrive, so this will have a very beneficial effect on the fishery,” he noted.

The author can be reached at pww @ pww.org.

Wage news not good

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 05:04:00 +0000

Wages have been in the news, and the news isn’t good. According to Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute, “real hourly and weekly earnings have fallen for six out of the last seven months.”

For manufacturing workers and non-managerial service employees, real wages, wages adjusted for inflation, dropped by 1 percent in June, the biggest decline since the 1991 recession. In May, real wages for the same workers declined by 0.8 percent.

This is troubling news because the U.S. economy is three years into its recovery from the 2001 recession, and if this recovery were like others, real wages should be increasing.

Corporate profits, however, are doing fine. According to EPI, during the three years of this recovery, corporate profits grew by 62.8 percent. Over the same period, wages grew by only 2.8 percent.

The news on wages doesn’t surprise some workers in Austin, Texas. Jennifer and Janice, who work for the state, haven’t received a raise since 2001. Joe, who works for a private government contractor, recently was rewarded for his hard work and loyalty with a pay cut. Carl, a construction worker, has done better than the others. His union negotiated a $1-an-hour raise last year. Unfortunately, most of his raise went to cover the cost of increased health care premiums.

While workers have struggled, the rich have prospered. The richest 20 percent of Americans received 77 percent of the 2003 Bush tax cuts and benefited the most from the stock market’s mini-boom of last year.

Tax cuts for the rich and stock market gains resulted in a burst of luxury consumer spending, which stimulated the economy last year. But this narrow base of consumption can’t sustain economic growth.

To sustain economic growth, consumption must be broader. But stretched paychecks along with rising prices have made it harder for workers buy more. Stores whose customers are workers are feeling the effects of stagnant wages. June sales at Payless Shoe Stores, for example, were down 1 percent compared to last year.

The wage crunch even has some Wall Streeters worried. Commenting on the fact that a disproportionate number of recently created jobs are low-paying jobs, Stephen Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley, said that “the quality of job creation [during this recovery] has been decidedly sub-par. … Unless that changes, the risks to a sustainable economic recovery will only intensify.”

Writing in the July 22 edition of the New York Times, Roach said globalization is affecting work in the U.S.: “American companies are now replacing high-wage workers here with like-quality, low-wage workers abroad … It was only a matter of time before globalization of work affected the United States labor market. The character and quality of American job creation is changing before our very eyes. Which poses the most important question of all: what are we going to do about it?”

That’s a good question, Mr. Roach!

The author can be reached at pww @ pww.org.

Immigrant rights activists rally against raids

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 05:03:00 +0000

DALLAS – Sixty or more people rallied at the Mexican Consulate here July 17 in support of immigrant rights and against the recent upsurge in immigration raids being carried out by the California Border Patrol.

California border agents, working under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security, have been targeting the state's Latino communities in sweeping immigration raids.

The marchers included activists from the Latino community and many others. Several participants came from the peace movement after North Texas for Justice and Peace endorsed the rally, which had been initiated by United Voices for Immigrants, the Coalition of Mexican Organizations, and Friends of the (People’s Weekly) World.

One of the peace activists said, “Just as the Bush administration is abusing ‘the least of us,’ the people without power, that’s what they are doing with immigrants as well.” Another said that she saw the worldwide fight against “neoliberal” economic policies (associated with trade pacts like NAFTA), as the underlying theme in the movements for immigrant rights and for peace.

In the hot sun, Guatemalan Margarita Alvarez drew the most applause with her fiery call for unity among all immigrant groups as well as the citizens who are working together for human rights. She said that the fight for peace was as important to immigrants as it is to all other workers.

State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas), head of Mexican American Democrats and an unwavering supporter of immigrant rights, said, “People have expressed their displeasure by saying that they are against those [California] raids.”

Alonzo added that President Bush has drawn the people’s wrath by coming out against a bill that would have simplified the road to citizenship for America’s immigrants. Alonzo named immigrant rights, along with the war in Iraq and health care, as the top issues in the November elections.

“If people base their vote on those issues, I believe that people are going to vote against George Bush and for John Kerry!” he said. His main message to all Latinos is that they must get out the vote this fall.

The author can be reached at flittle7 @ yahoo.com.

9/11 families appeal for peace and justice

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:52:00 +0000

BOSTON – The families of the 3,000 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack made a powerful appeal for peace, justice, and understanding both inside and outside the Democratic National Convention last week.

Haleema Salie’s daughter Rahma, seven months pregnant, died with her husband Michael aboard American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center. The still grieving mother was a featured speaker the first night of the convention.

A member of the Democratic Party Platform Committee, she reminded the crowd that she is a Muslim and that people of all races and faiths died in the tragedy. She called on the crowd “not to forget those who died, to give them a human face, to remember September 11 as the day we were one … responsible for each other. It must be the defining moment” and a reminder that “what unites us is stronger than what divides us. We bring our memories but we turn our faces to the future to a new day and a new world.”

Two days earlier, at the Boston Social forum, Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows launched “Stonewalk.” Stonewalk is a project in which volunteers will pull from the Democratic Convention in Boston to the Republican National Convention in New York a 1-ton granite gravestone dedicated to the 100 million people – 80 percent civilian – who died in wars over the past century. The gravestone’s permanent location is the Peace Abby in Sherbourne, Mass., where it was dedicated several years ago by Vietnam War draft refuser Muhammad Ali.

For its journey to New York, the stone is cradled on the back of a 3,000 pound caisson festooned with the American flag and the UN flag and a banner that reads, “Remembering the Human Cost of Terrorism, Violence, and War.” A long bar reaches out in front with crossbars for 14 volunteers to do the pulling.

“I’m here because I know there are four times as many people who lost family members because of the immoral war in Iraq as died September 11,” said Terry Rockefeller as she leaned into the crossbar. She lost her sister Laura in the terrorist attack on the WTC.

David Potorti, whose brother Jim died in the WTC, told the World, “I have not yet read the 9/11 Commission Report but I know that we are not safer because of our response to September 11. To the extent that the report is a narrative of what happened that day, it is good. But until it takes up why it happened, it is not enough. Why do people want to kill us? I think some September 11 families are in denial. But many others are asking that question. Why? This is about our foreign policy and how we relate to the rest of the world.”

Potorti decried the Bush administration’s war on Iraq and its drive for global domination and a “new American century.” He said, “It’s not the American century. The century, as well as the world, belongs to everyone. We share this planet with a lot of people. I like that quote of John F. Kennedy: ‘Those who make nonviolent evolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.’ This is our nonviolent evolution.”

The “stonewalkers” marched north to Copley Square. There the caisson stood beside a churchyard where 907 pairs of boots were arrayed on the grass, symbolizing the number of GIs who have died in Iraq so far.

The author can be reached at

greenerpastures21212 @ yahoo.com.